I had the pleasure of spending 3 days on Mille Lacs last week, prefishing and then fishing in the FLW Walleye League event. I’ll use this thread to describe some of the things that happened during that time….hopefully you can take something away from this as you prepare for your next trip to or event on the pond.
Day 1
I picked up fellow IDA staffer and pre-fishing partner Jason Sullivan at 0430 and we started making our way north. After making record time, we hit the Isle public launch before 0800. That’s where problem #1 struck: my GPS was out. No satellite reception. So, Sully and I started making phone calls and stopping in around the lake looking for an LCG-2000 puck. No luck. So, off to Brainerd and Reeds, as a phone call confirmed that they had what we needed.
I need to throw out a huge thanks to Lee in the marine electronics department at Reeds. I talked to Lee about my X25C’s symptoms, and rather than just sending me out the door with a new puck, Lee took the time to download the most recent software update from the Lowrance website onto a chip for me, and then come out to the boat to make sure that (1) the new puck worked, and (2) that I didn’t have any other issues, like a bad T-connector, terminator or cable, that was affecting my X25C’s performance. Well, sure enough, the problem was the puck, so we got that baby installed and off we went. That kind of customer care and service will win more of my business in the future. Thanks Lee and thanks Reeds!
Fianlly back in Isle at noon, Sully and I hit the water to start patterning some fish for Saturday’s event. My strategy going into the practice period is to focus on spots within 5-7 miles of the launch at Izatys. I only run a 17 foot tin boat, and the notion of running to the north end or the mud was not appealing given the possibilities of unfavorable winds on event day (that certainly turned out to be the case in the morning of the event). In our back pocket, we had some guidance from fellow staffers Don Hanson and Rob Stenger concerning patterns that had been successful for them. So, with those parameters set, Sully and I started pulling spinners on bottom bouncers and rigging leeches in search of pods of fish.
We found fish on gravel and on sand, and Sully put on an absolute rigging clinic. He had 6 fish well over 20″ and significant numbers of slotters, all rigging in water 24-30 feet deep. One of his nicer fish is shown above. On the other hand, I think I managed 3 fish all day, all low end slots or dinks. We even went so far as to switch rods midbite….Sully continued to whack fish while I was left scratching my head. That whole experience drove home the notion that rigging is the weakest tool in my technique toolbox, while Sully is clearly an experienced, focused rigger.
We lingered on the water until dusk and then hit the rack. Well, ok, we may have stopped at the Muni in Isle for a Heggies on the way. 
